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Once sailor, forever sailor

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Chinese teen defaces Egypt temple; sparks outcry

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press

In this photo taken Monday May 6, 2013, the Chinese words "Ding
Jinhao visited here" is seen on bas-relief in the 3,500-year-old Luxor
temple in Luxor, Egypt. A Chinese teenager who defaced the ancient
temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under fire at home where his
vandalism prompted public fretting about how to cultivate a good image
overseas as more newly affluent Chinese travel abroad. CHINA OUT
Photo: AP

BEIJING
(AP) — A Chinese teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt with
graffiti has come under fire at home where his vandalism prompted public
fretting about how to cultivate a good image overseas as more newly
affluent Chinese travel abroad.The
teen scratched "Ding Jinhao visited here" in Chinese on a temple wall
in the ancient city Luxor, and the incident came to light when another
Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the
comment: "My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my
face."The
photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting
thousands of comments, and someone was able to identify the person
responsible for the graffiti as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern
city of Nanjing. Many criticized Ding's act as an embarrassment to the
country."Why
there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many
generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?" Xuan Kejiong,
a prominent journalist with Shanghai Television, wrote on his microblog.The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People's Daily newspaper."Nowadays,
people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the
luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese," the
paper wrote in a commentary. "But many people also feel as though their
'hands are full but hearts are empty.' In the process of modernization,
how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?"The
outcry prompted Ding's parents to publicly apologize. In an interview
with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding's father said "the child has committed a
mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because
we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well."The
soul searching comes as Chinese tourism overseas has seen an explosion
in growth over the past decade, fueled by rising incomes and the
relaxation of government restrictions on citizens' ability to travel
abroad.China
has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the
world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency,
said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips
by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in
2012 — accompanied by a nearly eightfold increase in spending.Last
year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in
international tourism, with tourists' expenditure amounting to a record
$102 billion, the organization said.But Chinese travelers, many of whom join tour groups, are frequently criticized for rude behavior. Deputy Premier Wang Yang earlier this month during the passage of a tourism law urged Chinese travelers to mind their manners."They
make a racket in public places, carve words at scenic spots, cross the
road when the light is red, spit, and do other uncivilized things," Wang
was quoted as saying. "This is detrimental to the image of the
country's people and leaves a bad impression."___Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report from Shanghai.